Simulacra
Prologue.
Parce Sepulto.
The sun is rising. From here one can encompass the world in its largeness. A warm white ray hits the Star Hill as if bent on caressing it Its warm light penetrates the temple and surrounds the young woman kneeling in the adyton, in front of Athena's statue. In front of her own statue. But her prayers are not rising toward the goddess who possesses her frail human body: no, Saori Kido's prayers, invocations from the mundane incarnation of the goddess of justice, pass by. Her mind stretches out to the one who only can answer her, the father of all the gods. Saori is terrified, but knows she cannot and must not falter. It's a grand day, the beginning of a new age. You're a goddess. Act as you should, she says to herself. She has groomed herself with great care for this event. Father Zeus wants her daughter to shine. He's sensitive to beauty and she wishes him to heed her call, to answer her plea at all costs. I shall be a flame in this ending night. Her purple peplum spreads on the white marble as a bloodstain, the golden jewels are weighting on her, but she trusts she's looking wonderful. Her voice does not tremble as it finally reverberates among the temple columns.
'O Zeus, among the Olympians the all-mighty and most feared, you who through all time watched on the fate of both the visible and invisible world, accord now Athena your permission to bring back to Greece Seiya's mortal spoils, so that I may imbue into them, as I did once, with the light of my Cosmo. Do not allow, o father, Sagittarius Saint to be lost forever into oblivion.
She's pronounced the spell in a mere breath, and now she feels small and insipid… as if her father's gaze was upon her. Her heart pounds a bit faster. I am nothing. This is nothing. What did I think I was doing? What? Why are you not answering me?
Human beings fear that place. They've always been afraid of it, like they're afraid of death. Some say they don't believe it exists - their luck. There's been a war in that pain-stricken land, in that dimension which just now took form only for the narrow mind of mankind to comprehend it. Now it's silent. It's said it's a place whence no one returns. But someone has returned, and they've brought with them their sorrowful burden. There's no crying now, just stillness. And darkness. Elysium's light reaches it not. Its walls are consistent. They are some Gary, calcareous rock. Nobody knows who lit the red-beaming torches, which contribute to the dreariness in the round room. It's a tomb. There's a stone sarcophagus in the centre of this room. Human logic would postulate someone has placed it there, the same who engraved into the cover a man holding a bow to his chest. But this place is beyond human logic. No one's there as a womanly voice fills the room, just flickering flames. The light turns a shade warmer. Scarlet reverberations engulf the sarcophagus as if bent to bathe it in blood. Sulphur fills the air as the massive bulk rises from the ground. It's a graceful motion, as if gravity is something that no more regards this very sarcophagus, which fluidly yet determinately ascends to the ceiling. As a ghostly image, it passes through the rock. And then - it's as if it never has been there.
Seafarers wonder why all of a sudden a gale has lifted. Nobody had foretold it, neither the self styled infallible learned men whose field of study is weather forecasting, nor those seasoned old salts who always appear to know which way the wind will blow. As the Aegean Sea is racked by a storm fishermen tremble and scuttle toward their homes. They don't know that far from there, in a city called Asgard, wych-elms and ash-trees forming the northern forest wave under the icy pressure of a wind come out of nowhere. They also don't know that under the azure, agitated water, in a world that rightfully belongs to legend, the pillars of the shrine dedicated to an eternal, powerful god shake as if a submarine earthquake hit them.
Pray, don't stop. Don't lose your hope. It will be day soon. Saori feels her faith waver. She doubts Zeus; she doubts herself. As the odd energy surrounds her she lifts her gaze up to the barren face of Athena's statue. Saori shakes and the ground shakes along with her. The young goddess flails searching for support but the floor slips under her. Saori barely keeps herself on her knees. Such power… what sort of prodigy could have reshaped the temple according to its will? A exceedingly powerful Cosmo has crossed the doors which gods only can trespass…
Saori turns to the temple entrance. There's nobody behind her. The Cosmo she felt was stronger and brighter than any she'd ever felt before. A wave of nausea fills her suddenly. Her sight becomes hazy; her equilibrium appears insufficient even to keep her kneeling. Only after a while Saori realises that it was no indisposition. The floor has lost any consistence in front of her, its surface trembles like the milky water of a pond. And something's emerging before the goddess: a stony sarcophagus. One she has never seen the like of. But she knows, because she feels it. Because her Cosmo is right.
'Seiya!' cries out the goddess. Her heart is in a daze. Her blood rushes into her temples. Thank him. Thank him quickly, lest he changes his mind. Her voice is now firmer. 'O all-powerful Zeus, I didn't pray you in vain… Seiya, Sagittarius Saint, is right before me, in my consecrated temple. Hades' eternal darkness does not menace his remains anymore.'
Nothing looks changed in the temple. The floor is again solid. Just that stony oddity testifies a miracle has taken place. Saori inhales. Here we go. Bring a finish to what you started. And don't stop to think on it.
'Allow now, father o'mine, his body to return to life. Athena, your daughter, pleads you in the name of Justice.'
Saori stands up. Trying to stay calm she approaches the sarcophagus. Hush… it's no use to be afraid… As she touches the rocky cover she notices it's unexpectedly warm. Saori concentrates; she knows how to employ her own energy. Her slender hands glimmer. Athena's Cosmo… lend me your power this last time…The cover is trembling; it then slips away from the goddess' grasp to fall heavily on the ground. Saori's eyes open wide and she barely can restrain herself from shouting. It's impossible… he's been dead for only a few days! It's not possible! Saori gazes incredulously at what appears to be the skeleton of a centuries-dead man. There's not a shred of flesh attached to the bones. Only a coarse off-white tunic covers those remains. But she knows it's him, the new Sagittarius Saint. These were your bones, Sagittarius Saint… here, where nothing's left of your might, your beauty, used to be your hands, your arms… Your eyes don't shine. This is how terrible can be Hades' power. Saori quivers, trying to control her own anger. Hades… Hatred grows in her chest as she thinks about the lost ones' god…
Hades… A name mentioned just in thoughts. Still, something vibrates, down there into the dark. And something else sparkles in the obscure recesses with a sickly red light. If someone were there to observe, perhaps he would call it eyes…
You remember, all of it. Every single word. Then do it. Wait no longer. It's the right thing. An ancient spell. She's being carrying it along since millennia, as an atavistic heritage. Saori knows the first to use it were the Atlantis people. They passed it to the Egyptians. And from them, the Greeks learned it. Nobody ever taught her. It was stuffed in a corner of her mind, with all the lore Athena gave her at her birth. Again her hands reach for the sarcophagus. Her strength raises what's left of her most beloved Saint. Saori closes her eyes. She does not need to see the corpse floating in mid air; doesn't need to see the light engulfing it. She knows. Her voice is firm as it resonates in the adyton.
'Listen to me, night spirits who at sunset guard the universe, and you, light spirits that dawn wakes from moonlight torpor… The sun is rising; soon daylight shall win darkness. Come before me, creatures of both visible and invisible; guide my hand as I stretch it over death to give it life. Ye ever reigning gods, under new names and miens, heed my plea, look down to this high ground facing the world. At the time of silence and birth, accept the sacred offer of the life of one of yours. Hear the name I shall call out and give him back the breath I give you in return. May Seiya see the sun and night catch Athena.'
Saori's dark eyes open. The skeleton appears to glow. A dull pain wracks the goddess' body. Here we go… she thinks. She's smiling as her strength wanes.
Someone someday could ask him how it's like to be dead. Someone someday could ask him how it's like to come to life again. He couldn't know how to answer. He's unconscious as muscle reform around his bones. The pain comes right after, as bare nerves tense on his flesh. Blood starts pumping savagely in his veins. Skin senses the morning breeze. He can perceive the shape of his own face. Light filters through his closed eyelids to his new eyes. He smirks with baby-new lips. Alive! He feels like shouting. But his mind still doesn't recall how to. This odd feeling has to be life again gripping me… and, God… my hair… he feels them on his brow, on the ears… he is assured now. The Saint opens his eyes. I can move… he thinks. And I'm floating on air… he feels like laughing. He stumbles as he touches the ground. A look at the sarcophagus makes him feel fortune's pet. Did anyone else ever see his own tomb? After having used it, of course… I'm alive. I'll have time to wonder how it is possible later… then the Saint turns. And sees the goddess sprawled on the ground. Saori… her name is Saori… She's… His legs ache as he runs to her and kneels at her side. He straightens her up with his brand new arms. She's pale. Ominously pale.
'Saori' he screams.
The woman smiles faintly, her lips ashen white. 'Seiya… you're alive…'
Seiya trembles. 'Saori! What the…' He doesn't know what to ask… He doesn't know how to succour her. He knows she's dying. And that no last minute help is on the way…
Saori moves her head to the side and closes her eyes as if to prepare for a long sleep. Her voice is weary yet controlled. 'Seiya. My time is almost up…'
'No! Don't say it!' No, no, no… He cannot think anything else. She's dying. She's dying. Zeus, please, don't let her die!
She looks at him once more, trying to force a smile. Her words are a definitive sentence. 'You have understood, o Saint… it's time for Athena to return on the Olympus… it's time she relinquishes her life for one who could save hers again.'
Saving hers! How am I supposed to…? God help me, I don't know how! 'To save Athena? How can I help you, if you speak thus?' Tell me how to, please! Tell me there's a way…
She's smiling again, her eyes growing dim. Now they are human eyes. 'Not me Seiya… Athena and every other God… it's your time now, not mine… Saori does not die in vain… fare thee well, my Saint…'
He shakes her, shakes her; shakes her more. Harder and harder, like she was just a rag doll. He calls her name, but her eyes remain still. Her smile is frozen forever. A strange sound reaches Seiya's ears, a gloom, and pained, desperate sound. As his throat starts to ache, he realises it's himself screaming. The echo is still audible as he loses the strength to shout.
He doesn't know how much his trance-like state lasts. He cradles in his arms the lifeless body of the girl. Mechanically he closes her eyes. You're so beautiful… Like a bride… I'm certain that when Thetis got married with Peleus she wasn't as beautiful as you are now… Kindly, Seiya straightens her up; the purple silk rustles under his fingertips. How many times has he lived through similar moments? Time and again, certainly… but this time she's not going to wake… She'll not thank him for saving her life. And Seiya is unable to make sense of it all… In the end a single tear flows from his eyes as he places her in what shortly before was still his sarcophagus. He does not stop to think it over. There, before Athena's statue, she'll be able to rest… Athena's statue… She was Athena…. 'Athena… why did you have to leave us?' Nobody answers.
I'm alive and she's dead. I'm alive and she's dead. Slowly, the events begin to make sense. It's not right, not right… It's not right, Saori! His feet move on his own. He's not concerned about what he's going to do after he'll have left Star Hill. The steps are steep and he's still weak. He clings to the rock when pain strikes him. He has never felt like that. It's like his flesh is screaming. His bones turn into stone. His Cosmo… the most precious part of his self… My Cosmo… it's like it's blowing up… no, it's impossible… He can't see well anymore. Physical agony has veiled his gaze. Another step, then another… But it's like there's no bottom. It's like sinking. Down, down, to the centre of the earth. To the land of no return… Seiya looks up. What is it that's sparkling up there? I can't see… it's Sagittarius! He and his stars are now one thing. His Cosmo expands, becoming immense and scary. Something seems to be devouring him, a bottomless well, in the sky… a black hole… or something even more terrifying… something gleaming with an even more powerful light… It's Ophiucus… That's Ophiucus…
The earth shakes. Seiya barely registers he's falling down. Shards of stone cut him. Columns, capitals, millennia-ancient statues… Just what… what's going on? Star Hill seems to be joining his downfall. Am I suspended in the air or this place is heading down along with me? If so, how can it look still untouched? The temple… That's Athena's statue… Saori's grave. Seiya knows what's really that black void devouring the sacred place. Infinite obscurity can only belong to Hades. It's sucking Star Hill into an anti-gravity vortex… It will carry me away as well… it's Seiya's last thought before his painful contact with the soil.
Star Hill shall soon become legend. In a few years, nobody at the Sanctuary will be able to recall the red rock pinnacle pointing skywards that stood in lieu of the soon-to-be immense plain.
Sagittarius fights, up in sidereal space. He and his foe are becoming the same thing. His arrows cannot wound him. The Serpent Lord is wrapping him in the coils of his children. Sagittarius is made captive. Ophiucus steals his strength, only to give it back to him. They are a unified essence now. Sagittarius' stars bow before the new, terrible golden glow of Ophiucus. His light kisses gently the Saint unconscious on the desert plain, down on earth.
- to be continued -